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Given the circumstances, Gov. Phil Murphy should discontinue the practice immediately, said William Lanoza, the president of the New Jersey Law Enforcement Supervisors Association.
"Once this large group of inmates [is] released, the total number of prisoners that will have been prematurely released under this program will be over nine thousand five hundred (9,500)," Lanoza wrote in a letter to Murphy. "This constitutes more than fifty percent (50%) of New Jersey’s pre-pandemic incarcerated inmate population."
Lanoza, whose union represents state corrections sergeants, among others, questioned the governor's claim that the releases are based on curbing the spread of COVID behind bars.
Less than three of every 9,000 permanent and contract employees with the state Department of Corrections have tested positive daily for the virus, a rate that has "held constant for the last several weeks," the union chief noted.
Couple that with the state relaxing and/or removing "each and every pandemic restriction that was previously in place" and some conclusions are inevitable, Lanoza said.
"I have no choice but to question if the release of these prisoners is COVID-19 related or simply part of a plan to reduce New Jersey’s prison population," he told the governor.
The releases planned for this Sunday, March 13, come at a particularly perilous time, Lanoza said.
New Jersey, especially in its larger cities, is "experiencing a spike in crime that has the potential to be compounded by the release of these additional inmates," he wrote.
"The vast majority of inmates that are being released under this legislation are being bussed to our state’s urban centers and thereafter left to themselves," Lanoza added. "Such actions have resulted in recidivism amongst those that are released and further increases the likelihood that when additional criminal acts are perpetrated they will occur within [the cities]."
Murphy's office couldn't immediately be reached for reaction. His administration didn't announce this weekend's impending move, as happened last month when more than 1,000 prisoners were released.
It was early in the pandemic two years ago when New Jersey’s prisons reported the highest coronavirus death rates of any state correctional facilities in the country.
The State Legislature, in turn, drafted and adopted a law that allows authorities to award "public health emergency credits" to certain offenders in an effort to slow the spread of the virus by reducing the prison population.
It allowed certain qualified inmates with a year or less left on their sentences to shave off up to eight months.
Roughly 5,300 inmates – and sex offenders – had gotten early parole under the new law when Murphy lifted the public health emergency last October.
The Democrat governor “re-declared” a public health emergency in January amid the omicron variant surge. This re-enacted early release.
It initially appeared that up to 800 inmates would be freed, but the number ballooned to more than 1,000, at least 10 of them sex offenders, corrections sources told Daily Voice.
Under the early release law, the only inmates not eligible are those convicted of murder or aggravated sexual assault, repetitive, compulsive sex offenders and those whose maximum release date is beyond one year.
As for the rest: Anyone with under a year left qualifies for a reduction up to eight months. That includes other violent criminals and certain sex offenders. Incarcerated juveniles are also included, as are parolees in good standing.
The measure requires that victims be notified at least 30 days before an inmate's early release. Notification is also made to county prosecutors and law enforcement agencies, including the New Jersey State Police.
Any ex-con who violates any of the terms must be returned to prison.
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